By Candice Carter
For The Salisbury Post
The 6th annual CHAOS dinner theater will take place March 10 at 6 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church in Landis.
This year’s show is titled “God’s Timeless Love.”
What comes to mind when you hear the word timeless?
I associate the word with great works of art. Something that is timeless has such universal appeal that it’s valued in all times and all places. The paintings of Da Vinci, the works of Shakespeare — all are hundreds of years old but are still treasured.
The most timeless treasure we were ever given is the Bible. The Bible is God’s love letter to us, telling us not only that he loves us but showing us what he has done to demonstrate his love. God’s love knows no end; it is unchanging and more powerful than we can even imagine. The power of God’s love is with us in even our deepest darkest hour. It’s strong enough to heal broken hearts, break addictions and to comfort us during life’s most challenging times.
Through this year’s presentation, the youth and I are hopeful that our audience will somehow be touched by the simple fact of knowing just how much God loves each one of us. The promise that God loves you and will never forsake you throughout eternity brings hope and joy to each of our lives.
Throughout our show the audience will travel back in a time machine. We will open with a comedy sketch, “The Silent Singing Monks.” This skit is full of humor as the youth portray monks who have taken a vow of silence yet figure out an interesting way to express themselves in a unique version of the ever popular Hallelujah Chorus.
Lauren Beaver and Jeff Draper from Lutheran Chapel will be performing a drama titled “God Chisel,” focused on Ephesians 2:10. The skit shows how fulfilling it can be when God answers our prayers. As believers, we ask God to remove things from our lives that keep us from being all that we can be for him. It is sometimes painful to look at things in our lives, like jealousy, anger and pride, that hinder us from being who God created us to be. We are God’s masterpiece and each of us is a work in progress. God uses circumstances to help us grow spiritually even though it is sometimes painful.
The middle and high school youth will perform a futuristic glow dancing selection entitled “Stronger.” This skit uses high energy music, black lights and the illusion of gravity to create an entertaining crowd-pleaser.
Our fourth skit of the evening, “Give Me Your Eyes,” was created by the high school youth and filmed on location at a local school. In this drama the high schoolers will demonstrate how differently we would view humanity if we could see others through the eyes of Christ. If for just a moment we were able to walk through the hall of a high school and view others through God’s eyes we would see the pain, frustration and strangleholds others were truly experiencing, which would cause us all to have more compassion.
“Give Me Your Eyes” will feature Sara Bradley, a junior from South Rowan High. It’s an excellent reminder that we should take time for others and truly be God’s hands and feet.
Our fifth selection of the evening will be “Jesus Paid it All,” a powerful skit using simple painting techniques to display the crucifixion of Jesus. We will conclude the evening a live band and the youth singing “Jesus Messiah” by Chris Tomlin.
The CHAOS Youth have a love for drama ministry. We have seen a great number of lives changed through our Christian drama ministry. Our group of middle and high school students all share their time and talents to create a message of healing and hope. Each year our dinner theater presents the youth with an opportunity to use their talents to uplift Christ. They are each very eager to share their ideas and talents and for that I am very proud. CHAOS performs at a number of church and community events throughout the year. If you are interested in having CHAOS at your event please contact Candice Carter at sryouthdirector@yahoo.com..
The meal will consist of grilled chicken, green beans, baked potato, devilled eggs, drink and dessert. The youth will wait tables. Tickets are $8 for adults, $5 for children, 3 and under free. All proceeds will be used to fund our summer youth camp. You may reserve tickets by calling 704-425-5405 or emailing reserveCHAOS@gmail.com. Seating is limited. Tickets are purchased at the door but reservations are required.
The South Rowan Lutheran Youth is a joint youth ministry of Lutheran Chapel, St. Marks Lutheran Church, Mt. Moriah Evangelical Lutheran Church and Trinity Lutheran Church in the South Rowan area. Middle and high school youth from all four churches participate and they go by the name CHAOS Youth which stands for Christians Hyped About Our Savior.Candice Carter has served as the full time youth director for the group since 2004.